


Everything I Need

by GirlMeetsMe12



Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: Angst, F/F, Rilaya, riley and maya forever
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-16
Updated: 2016-04-05
Packaged: 2018-05-27 03:16:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6267367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GirlMeetsMe12/pseuds/GirlMeetsMe12
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Riley's feeling strange things. Good, but strange things. Good but strange things about a girl she barely knows - Maya Hart. Do these feelings mean anything? Riley would say they have to, but she doesn't know what.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Beginning

Long, wavy, blonde hair. Perfect blue eyes. A smile that left me breathless. And I was going to have to leave it all behind. Leave her behind. It was the day of my high school graduation, and I was trying my best to imprint the image of her in my brain for later, whilst also trying to look inconspicuous. I idly wondered if she had ever noticed one of many times I had blatantly stared at her, unable to look away from the way she glowed. I didn’t want to leave high school, and her, behind. It seemed like only a short while ago when it all started...

***

            The Wizard of Oz – that was the play we were putting on in my sophomore year of high school. I had a small role in the chorus, but I was still required to dress in full munchkin wardrobe, hair and makeup. On opening night, backstage was a mess of cast and crew floundering around making sure everything was in order (which of course nothing was – it was opening night, after all). I had my rainbow t-shirt and overalls on, and sparkly makeup applied to my face, but I hadn’t been able to manage doing my own hair. The director had instructed all munchkins to have some sort of silly hair do, but the way I did my hair looked less silly and more like a hot mess.

            I felt small and unnoticed – my only friend also involved in the play was Farkle, but he mostly hung out with the other leads, as he was playing the scarecrow (ironic considering the brain he has). I was looking for someone who could help me with my hair when a soft, feminine voice asked, “Are you looking for someone?”

            I spun around to see a shorter girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, and recognized her as the girl who sat in the back of my science class. I believed her name was Maya.

            “Actually, I was just looking for someone who could help me with my hair.” I motioned to the mess on my head and gave a small smile.

            “I can do hair,” she simply said. “Come,” she beckoned me over to a stray chair, and I followed, glad that someone was finally going to help me. I didn’t know the girl very well at all, but if she could make my hair look half decent, that was all that mattered.

            I sat and the girl immediately started running her hands through my hair, combing with her fingers. It felt nice, and I started to relax a little. As she began pulling pieces of hair together in what seemed to be a kind of braiding pattern, I tried filling the silence with some small talk.

            “So I didn’t know you were part of the play. Are you in crew?” I stared forward, and listened for a reply from behind me.

            “Nah, I’m just volunteering. You know, mandatory volunteer hours? I’m doing mine here.”

            I started to nod, and then remembered that she was still doing my hair, so instead I just said, “Yeah, okay.” In every year of high school it was mandatory for each student to provide a minimum of five hours of volunteer service.

            As her fingers kept gently tugging and working through my hair, I was starting to become hyperaware of the pretty girl standing behind me. I felt little tingles running down my skin, but told myself it was just because people playing with your hair feels nice. It had nothing to do with the specific pair of hands weaving through my hair.

            All of a sudden, someone turned on a radio, to a country station it seemed, and Maya started softly singing along to the song, her mouth somewhat close to my ear as she continued to braid. I was immediately struck by how lovely her voice sounded, and although I had never liked country music before, I was beginning to really enjoy the song. Maya kept singing and I kept feeling warm in my stomach, deep down wishing that the moment would never end, but not wanting to admit it to myself.

            All too soon, I felt her hands leave my hair and heard the word “Done” as Maya spun the chair around to check out her handy work. She squinted her eyes a little and tilted her head, examining me. I couldn’t help but stare up at her face, and thought it was crazy how I’d never noticed how pretty she was before.

            “Hold on,” she held up a finger, and briefly walked away, coming back with a big pink bow in her hand. “A little something to add the perfect finishing touch,” she smiled, leaning down to pin the bow to the top of my head, leaving her face just inches from mine. I subconsciously held my breath, taken aback by the sudden proximity. Then she was back to standing a foot away from me.

            “Thanks,” I said shyly, standing up.

            “Yeah, no problem,” she shrugged and walked away with a quick smile.

            I didn’t really understand what had happened that day, but whatever happened made it impossible for me to get her off of my mind.

***

            As hard I tried to push the image of the blonde haired girl out of my head, remembering what it felt like to have her fingers in my hair, I couldn’t. It didn’t help that the dreams had started only weeks after the encounter. Not every night, but more often than not, Maya Hart had appeared in my dreams – never really doing much, but she was always _there_ , and I always woke up with a pleasant feeling in my stomach.

            Each day I found myself keeping a particular eye out for the blonde haired girl, just wanting to see her face, knowing that I would get that warm rush again. It was an odd situation though, for many reasons, and I wasn’t sure what to make of what I was feeling.

            The first and probably the most relevant reason as to why the situation was odd, was because I was a straight girl with a boy friend. Lucas Friar – aka Mr. Perfect, had been my boy friend since freshman year. Handsome, kind, smart, athletic – it was impossible to _not_ like him. Dating Lucas had always felt comfortable and nice, but things started to feel a little different after that first time I talked to Maya. I still loved Lucas, in a way at least, but our relationship felt lacking, and I felt guilty for thinking about Maya so often, even though I tried to convince myself it was just because I would like to get to know her better, and maybe be her friend.

            I had never had anything against gay people, or anyone for that matter, but my strange feelings for a girl I had hardly spoken to were starting to make me question myself, and it scared me. It scared me to think that maybe I didn’t know myself as well as I thought I did.

            Sophomore year turned into Junior year, and Junior year turned into Senior year. Lucas and I shared a mutual breakup towards the end of Junior year, but swore we would remain friends, which we did for the most part. We didn’t talk much anymore, but we still smiled at each other in the hallways, and talked about class assignments here and there.

            My feelings for Maya didn’t subside over the years like I thought they might. The odd brush of skin when we passed each other in a crowded hallway still sent me chills, and she still appeared in some of my dreams, a passive figure. In Senior year, she somehow managed to end up in five of my eight classes, which nearly killed me when I was forced to be in the same room as her, but not able to sit with her due to the seating arrangement. All I wanted was to talk to her. A few moments actually came up where I did speak with her again, like in math when I pretended I needed help with a question, and just asked her because it was easier than asking the teacher, to which he replied, “Sorry, I’m actually no good at math,” and gave me an apologetic smile. Or the time in PE when we were paired up for partner tag, where we had to _hold each others’ hands_. I remember how soft her skin was, and how nice it felt the way she squeezed my hand as we ran around the gym like idiots. During the game we strategized about who we should try to tag, and after we talked about how silly everyone looked running around holding hands. I felt like I was on top of the world.

            “Riles? Riley?” Farkle’s voice behind me pulled me out of my reverie, and I blinked a couple times, getting back to reality.

            “They’re going to be calling you up soon, and you looked kind of out of it.” He motioned to the stage where the principal was handing out diplomas in alphabetical order. Lucky for me, my best friend’s last name came right after mine, so we got to wait in the long line of students receiving their diplomas together.

            “Thanks,” I smiled and patted his shoulder. As the principal called up the girl before me, stole one last glance at Maya, sitting with the other students who had already received their diplomas, a slight smile on her relaxed face. Who knew where she would be after high school? I was probably never going to see her again, just like many of the other students graduating that day.

            Finally, my name was called and I walked up to the stage, focusing particularly on trying not to trip up the steps, shook the principal’s hand and was handed my diploma. I smiled out at the audience, mostly towards my goofy parents who were standing and cheering with Auggie, a giant camera around my father’s neck.

            _Goodbye high school, goodbye Maya_.


	2. I Think I'm Falling For You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riley starts her first day of university, and is in for a little surprise.

There it was right in front of me. The place I would be attending school for the next however many years. Farkle, who stood beside me, was thrumming with excited anticipation, and I smiled at my genius friend. I was excited to be there too, just maybe not to the same extent. With my bag on my shoulder (killing me from the weight of the textbooks), I strode into the building, trying to look more confident than I felt.

            As we walked into the foyer of the main building, I swear Farkle squealed.

            “Finally, a higher education! This is where I thrive.” Farkle gave me an ecstatic smile.

            I took in my surroundings. “It is pretty cool, isn’t it? We’re all grown up, getting a grown up education, that we’re paying with our grown up jobs,” Riley paused and then added, “Well, at least _I_ am.”

            “Hey!” Farkle put his hands up defensively. “My only job right now is to make the next great scientific discovery.”

            I rolled my eyes but smiled. It wasn’t Farkle’s fault he was born into an incredibly wealthy and successful family. Plus, I knew Farkle actually was under a lot of pressure to measure up to his parents – especially his father.

            Farkle and I meandered a bit more through the building before stopping at a bench and pulling out our schedules. Neither of us even had to look to know that this would be where we parted. Farkle’s first class was some sort of history course, which he was really hoping would talk about Belgium 1831, and my first class was an intro to human anatomy. We both glanced up at each other, and I couldn’t help but notice that Farkle even seemed a bit nervous now.

            “Well, I guess this is it,” Farkle said with an uncertain smile.

            “Yep,” I nodded, biting my lip. “Oh!” I piped up. “We’re still meeting for lunch, right?”

            This time Farkle’s smile was more relaxed. “Yes, I wouldn’t miss it.”

            I smiled in return, and then took Farkle’s lead and stood up. As I started to walk away, I turned back one more time. “Lunch?”

            Farkle turned back for a moment as well, and with a calming smile said, “Lunch.”

            Then I was on my own, starting my university career. On my own. By myself. I would be fine. Probably. I just had to make it to lunch, and then I would be reunited with my best friend – until after lunch anyways. _Just make it to lunch_.

            I exited the main building and realized I had absolutely no idea where the biology building was. At the risk of looking like a total dweeb, I pulled out my campus map in search of the right building. A few people walked by, and eyeing the map in my slightly shaky hands, snickered. _Wonderful, cause that makes me feel so much better._

In the end I managed to make it to the right building, and found my class pretty quickly. I stepped through the doors into fairly large and intimidating lecture hall, and immediately grabbed the first seat at the back, worried about tripping down the stairs if I went to sit any closer to the front and making an idiot of myself on the first day. I settled into the small chair desk and pulled out a notebook and a pink pen (because I couldn’t resist) and pulled out my phone for the remaining few minutes until class started.

My professor, a stout, bearded, probably middle aged man settled himself at the front and pulled up a power-point, beginning with a short introduction that I was sure to get in all my classes that day. As I listened to the professor wrap up his first day speech, I heard the lecture hall door open behind me, and I instinctively looked back to see who it was. Instantly recognizing her, by eyes nearly popped out of my head.

It was _her_. The blonde beauty I thought I’d never see again. The girl I felt uncontrollably drawn to for the past two and a half years but was always too shy to have a conversation with. The girl I’d do anything to get to know better. Maya Hart.

She strode down the stairs to the third row, looking completely at ease, her blonde hair billowing very lightly behind her. She settled into her seat, pulling out her things, and I couldn’t stop staring at her. Maya Hart ended up going to the same university. She ended up taking human anatomy. She ended up taking it at this time, on this day, in _my_ class, when there was at least four other human anatomy courses identical to this one. As my heart thundered in my chest, I wondered if this was some freaky fate kind of thing. It was just unbelievable and _fantastic_.

I hadn’t seen her since graduation in June, but the dreams didn’t stop during the summer. I tried not to think about her too much that summer, and it wasn’t incredibly difficult because I was always either working or doing something with Farkle, but the dreams came nonetheless. Her, always there doing _something_. In one of the dreams she was working a hot dog cart and asked me if I wanted ketchup or mustard. She was just always there, at least in the background.

As the class went on, I tried hard to pay attention to the lecture, but I kept daydreaming, staring at the back of Maya’s head, and feeling kind of creepy. Situations running through my mind of how I could talk to her. Should I accidentally bump into her? Should I look up her student email and ask for notes I already had? Should I sit beside her? I thought them all through very carefully before deciding I didn’t have the guts. We hardly talked in high school, and it would seem really weird if I just sat with her or contacted her out of nowhere – it wasn’t going t happen.

The morning passed by fast, and I was less nervous, probably because my mind was distracted thinking about Maya. I picked at the ham and cheese sandwich in front of me, frustrated with myself because I knew I had a great opportunity to get to know Maya better, but I was too scared to put myself out there. Farkle noticed something was off.

“Riles, everything alright? You’ve hardly said a word. I mean, I know I’ve been talking about my classes for the past fifteen minutes, but still.” Farkle probed, concerned.

“Hm?” I blinked a couple times coming out of my stupor. “Oh, oh yeah, everything’s fine.”

Farkle didn’t buy it for a second. Damn genius. “I know when something’s wrong, Riley. Maybe if you tell me, I can help.” He stared into my eyes seriously.

I wanted to tell Farkle, I did. But he didn’t know about my whole thing for Maya, and I didn’t even know exactly what my thing was for Maya yet either. All I knew was that I had felt this strange but undeniable pull ever since the first time I talked to her.

I sighed, knowing I couldn’t lie to Farkle, but not wanting to tell him the truth either. “It’s not a big thing – I’m just going to try to handle it by myself first. But thank you.” I placed a hand on his and gave it a little squeeze.

“You know I’m here,” he responded with his own squeeze.

“I know,” I smiled.

***

It was Wednesday, and the second day of my anatomy class. I couldn’t help but feel anxious as I walked into the room, sitting at the back again, and looking to see if Maya was there yet. Just as I was scanning the room, the door opened behind me, and low and behold, it was Maya. Like before she went to the front of the room, sitting in the third row, an empty seat on her right. Not that it mattered, because I decided I wasn’t going to approach her at all.

A minute later I thought, _maybe I’ll just move down a little bit_ , so I moved down a couple rows, telling myself it was so that I could hear the lecture better, and not because it would give me a better view of Maya. But then it all happened so quickly.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a girl heading down the stairs, clearly searching for an empty spot. I swore I saw the exact moment she decided she would sit in the open spot beside Maya, and a scene flashed before my eyes. Maya and the mystery girl talking. Maya and the mystery girl becoming friends, good friends at that. The kind of good friends that sat with each other every day in class, studying together and working on assignments, completely taking away any and all chances I would ever have.

I wasn’t thinking, at least I don’t remember thinking about it. I was suddenly out of my seat, my bag in hand and flying down the remaining stairs to the third row, entirely forgetting my super klutz status. Let’s be honest – there was no way I wasn’t going to trip down those stairs. So I did, drawing a lot of attention and bruising my shins pretty good, but thankfully, and the only good thing to come out of the catastrophe, the mystery girl stopped in her tracks to stare wide eyed at my tumble.

Wincing at the pain in my legs, one thing stuck out to me – a hand.

“That was quite the entrance. Need a hand?”

I gazed up, mortified, to see Maya, grinning with her eyebrows raised.

“Uh, uh,” I tried to gather myself and my bag, and then hesitantly took her hand as she pulled me to my feet. “Thanks,” I finished quietly.

“Yeah well, you could probably use more than a hand after all that,” she said with a soft laugh, and then sat back down. I stood there in the aisle, immobile, not sure if I could sit beside her after embarrassing myself at such a high level. I didn’t end up making a decision, because the professor walked in and noticed me standing there, looking stupid.

“Have a seat everyone. You too,” he pointed to me, then at the seat next to Maya, and I felt I had no other option than to sit there.

“Good, good. Now let’s get back to...” the professors voice faded out as I realized I did it. I was sitting next to Maya Hart. And nothing was going to stop me from doing it again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! What do you guys think so far? Feedback is like a drug to writers, so please feel free to tell me what you think :)


	3. It's okay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riley learns something new about Maya.

So that first day of sitting beside Maya was pretty awkward. It was inevitable really, after the ridiculously embarrassing event that led to it. I didn’t know whether to talk to her, or tell her my name, or what to do. I mean, I was pretty sure she knew my name from going to the same high school, but it’s not like we really talked, so was it right for me to just assume that she knew my name? But if I told her my name, there was the possibility that she would just look at me in confusion and say “Yeah I know, we went to the same high school.” It was a tricky situation for me. Well, probably not that tricky, but the impression I made on this girl meant everything to me, and I didn’t want to mess it up. I just wanted her to like me.

What ended up happening was none of the above. We both sat, listened to the lecture, and didn’t say a word to each other. I was really hoping that she might say something, anything, but she didn’t, and then neither did I. I chickened out. Looking back it was probably the right decision anyways – just being next to her already set my nerves on fire, and I don’t know what I would’ve done if I had heard her beautiful voice again.

That was the first day I sat beside Maya Hart. The next class, as usual I was doubting everything about myself, so I wasn’t sure whether or not Maya would think it was weird for me to sit beside her again. I _did_ sit beside her that first day, but maybe she already thought that was strange? Maybe she didn’t want to have anything to do with me. Yup, over-analyzing any situation involving Maya Hart had become a new talent of mine. Walking into the lecture hall that next class and seeing that girl from the last class that almost sat with Maya reminded me why I went through such a traumatizing experience in the first place, and I forced myself to sit beside, not daring to even steal a side glance at her. Maya didn’t even seem to notice – not looking at me either, and just scribbling something in her notebook. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. It could mean that she didn’t care if I sat beside her, but it could also mean that she didn’t care _if_ I sat beside her. Again, over thinking.

That same class, whilst nervously twiddling my pencil between my thumb and forefinger, I lost my grip and the writing utensil fell to the floor on my left, right in front of Maya. This was a problem for me. If I leaned down to grab my pencil, my head would practically be in her lap. At the same time, I was pretty sure she noticed, and if I didn’t reach for my pencil, she would think I was some stupid person who dropped her pencil and never bothered to pick it up, leaving myself without anything to write with.

“Here.”

I slowly turned my head to see Maya holding out my pencil, with a small smile on her face. Clearly she had picked it up herself while I was fussing about what to do.

“Thanks,” I whispered back, trying to keep my cool, and taking the pencil from her. We didn’t say another word to each other.

I had butterflies for the rest of the day.

The class after that I made a plan of action. It was a lame plan of action, but it was a plan nonetheless.

I squinted at the board and scrunched my eyebrows together as if I couldn’t make out the writing. I gave Maya a light nudge with my elbow.

“Hm?” She looked up from her notes.

“Uh, I can’t read that sentence on the board...his handwriting’s a little messy.”

Maya squinted at the board herself and then said, “Um, I think it says ‘The blastula continues to divide’.”

I nodded. “Thanks,” and wrote down the sentence.

I could totally read the board.

The next few classes I did a very good job of finding little things to talk to Maya about. Either asking her about a word, or asking her if she understood what the professor was saying – I was very proud of myself. Then the opportunity I had been waiting for came around.

“Alright class, I posted your first assignment on the class website. Your task is to write a summary on one of the provided articles, and then partner up and have your partner review, edit, and critique your writing.”

As soon as the words came out of the teacher’s mouth, I froze, and my heart rate sped up. I knew what I had to do. I _had to_. I couldn’t miss this chance. I slowly turned towards Maya.

“Hey.”

“Hey,” she responded, glancing up from her paper.

“Do you have a partner? For the assignment?” I internally kicked myself as I realized she couldn’t possibly have a partner already – he had just given us the assignment.

To my relief, she just smiled and said, “No. You need a partner?”

I returned the smile, trying not to seem too ecstatic and said, “Yeah, I do, thanks.”

She then ripped off a piece of paper and wrote her school email down, handing it to me.

“Just email me your finished paper, and I’ll send my feedback.”

Oh. I had been hoping we’d actually get together and review each other’s work. Getting her email was still good – heck, it was kind of like getting her number – but I was disappointed that we wouldn’t be _really_ working together.

“Okay, yeah,” I replied, facing towards the front again. It wasn’t much, but it was something. Plus, this meant that she wouldn’t be contacting someone else in the class. She would be contacting _me_. I smiled at the thought. _Riley Matthews has some game_.

Being the academic athlete that I was, I finished the paper that same night. Okay, maybe it was because I also wanted to email Maya as soon as possible. Except, what if she thought I was a total dork for finishing the paper on the same night? But what if she thought I was really smart, and was impressed? I had to argue with myself over the situation for literally an hour before I came to a conclusion – a way to seem both smart, but not too smart at the same time.

I opened up my mail and typed her email address in, attaching my paper, then wrote:

**Hey, I know you said you would just send your comments over email, but I struggled a lot with this and it would really help a lot if we could meet and you could give me some pointers face to face.**

I held my breath, reading over the email and praying that I didn’t sound to needy or desperate, and then hit send. I released the breath I had been holding and immediately became nervous. _Crap. Crap. She’s totally going to think I’m weird. Bad move, Riley. Should’ve just played it cool, should’ve just –_ but my thoughts were interrupted by a light ping, and I whipped my head around to see the reply email.

**I’m not really sure I’m the best person to give you advice haha, but I guess so. When?**

I stared at the screen, eyes wide, heart thumping. She agreed. She wanted to know when we were going to meet. And then we would be face to face, _talking_. About stuff. Well, mostly the paper, but maybe some other stuff. Maybe I could get to know her better.

I shook out of my stupor and typed out a reply.

**Are you busy tomorrow at ten? We could meet on the second floor of the library.**

The second floor of the library was always nice because it had seats near large windows that looked out on the campus, giving off a peaceful vibe for studying. A minute later, I heard the returning ping.

**Sure, see you then.**

And that was that. I had arranged a date of sorts with Maya Hart. No. Not a date. I just wanted to be her friend. Just a friend.

***

The night was spent picturing the many different ways the meeting with Maya could go. We could really hit it off, and she could decide that she thought I was really cool and wanted to be my friend too. That didn’t seem likely, but that was the scenario I replayed in my mind the most. By the next morning, I could barely eat breakfast I was so nervous. Mostly I was just worried that I would say something weird, revealing to her just how weird I actually was, and then she might not want to see me ever again. That would suck.

I stood at the top of the stairs on the second floor of the library, knowing that I would see Maya when she came up, and bit my lip looking at the time. 10:04. _Okay, just four minutes late. That’s only four minutes. She’s probably just a little late._ However, four minutes turned into ten, and ten turned into twenty, and twenty turned into a sullen Riley, leaving the library to go and find Farkle.

After texting Farkle to find out his location, Riley found him behind his laptop at a table in the on campus Starbucks. Riley’s disappointment must’ve been evident, because he immediately made a comment.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Farkle asked, concerned, closing his laptop. I plopped down in the seat across from him and sighed.

“I’m just tired.”

Farkle raised an eyebrow skeptically. “I’ve seen you when you’re tired Riley, and this isn’t tired.”

I closed my eyes, internally cursing how well my best friend knew me.

            Opening my eyes again, I looked at him. “It’s just, some girl in my class was supposed to help me out with an assignment this morning, and she never showed.”

            “Ah.” He nodded in understanding. “Frustrating. Do you want me to give you a hand?” he asked kindly.

            A smiled at the gesture, but shook my head. “It’s okay, I’ll figure it out.” Really, I already had the paper figured out, but I didn’t have this whole Maya situation figured out. Who knew why she never showed? My low self esteem wanted to blame it on her realizing I was maybe a little too eager to be her friend and she got creeped out, but I tried to tell myself that something must’ve just come up. Either way, I decided it was a good idea to not talk to her the next class, just in case it was because she didn’t like me.

            I got to class before Maya that day, and sat in what was now considered my spot. I almost wondered if her not getting to class before me was linked to her no show the day before. My conspiracies were quickly tossed out the window as I noticed her walking down the stairs, and slipping into her spot. I pursed my lips together for a couple moments, feeling uncomfortable, before she spoke up.

            “I’m sorry.”

            I turned to her with a soft expression on my face, wanting to make sure she knew I wasn’t mad.

            “Sorry about what?”

            Maya bit her lip and blue eyes met brown. “I’m sorry I flaked out on you yesterday.”

            I shrugged, seemingly nonchalant. “It’s fine.”

            Maya raised her eyebrows. “You’re not even going to ask why I didn’t show?” She looked honestly curious.

            “Well,” I started, telling her the truth. “I’m not mad, so it doesn’t really matter, does it?”

            And I wasn’t mad. I was disappointed, yes, but I couldn’t be mad.

            Maya seemed to think that over, then spoke carefully. “No, I guess it doesn’t.”

            I gave her a small smile then turned back to the front.

            “I should tell you why, though.”

            I turned back to Maya, a questioning look on my face.

            She looked down, playing with her fingers, then looked up again, seeming uncomfortable. “To be honest, I don’t really know what the hell is going on in this class. I barely know how to even get started on the assignment.”

            It occurred to me then that Maya felt ashamed about this. It was clear from the way she told me. This also made me wonder why she would tell me then. If she was ashamed, why did she feel like it was okay to tell me?

            “Hey, don’t worry about it.” I felt the strong need to put my hand on hers, but refrained. Then I continued. “But you still didn’t have to tell me.” The real meaning behind my words was evident: why did you tell me this?

            She sighed, and then turned to face the front, talking without looking at me. “Because I didn’t want you to think I was a bitch.” She turned to look at me again, and said earnestly, “And I’m sorry.”

            At her words my heart was melting, and I blurted the next sentence out, unthinkingly. “I can help you! If you want,” I added the last part more calmly.

            She stared at me and pursed her lips. Hesitantly, cautiously, she agreed. “Alright. If that’s okay?”

            I gave her a warm smile and nodded. “It’s okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts? Opinions? Thank you again to all of the lovely human beings (and dogs and cats and what not) for reading :)

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, hope you liked the chapter! Feel free to supply constructive criticism, comments of any kind and kudos, and check me out on Tumblr at GirlMeetsMe12 :)


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